Railway trapdoor lock mechanism



Patented (lot. 17, 15922..

FATIENT QFFEQEQ JOSE BRANDSTETTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC STOP FOR TALKING MACHINES.

Application filed November 22, 1919.

I '0 all to 710m it may concern Be it known that I, Josnr Bimnns rn'r'rnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automat c Stops for Talking Machines, of which the tollowing 1S 2. specification.

My invention relates to automatic stops for talking machines and more specifically to the type of stop adapted to allow the record rotator or turntable to rotate as long as inward motion of the reproducing element continues but to stop the rotation as soon as such inward motion ceases.

The principal object of my inventlonis to provide improvements over the dev ce disclosed in my copending applicatlon Serial No. 224,17 5, filed March 23, 1918, embodying vertically operating pistons for the purpose of decreasing to a min mum the 1110- tion of the pistons in operation.

Another object is to eliminate all valves I accomplish this purpose by the use oi ports controlled by the motion of the parts themselves. I

An advantage of my present construction is that I do not employ a spring to hold the brake member in operative position.

Another object is to provide a device which will function equally well on all types of machines regardless of differences in the rate of inward travel of'the reproducing element during the reproducing operation.

A special object is to provide a conneption between the brake and its operating piston which acts resiliently in applying the brake but positively in holding it in inoperative position, thus allowing the piston to move after the brake has been moved against its sto l urther objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as the descrip tion proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 1s a plan view illustrating part of an ordinary talking machine with the record rotating turn table removed showing the application of one embodiment of my invention thereto. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line Serial No. 339,927.

3.3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4c is a detail of the brake lever, and Fig. 5 is a detail section through the brake operating piston and cylinder illustrating a modification of the same.

In the embodiment of my invention selected for illustration, the talking machine comprises the customary box having a top member 10 which supports the reproducing element herein shown as a rotatable tone arm 11 and the record rotator herein shown as a turn table 12. A brake lever 13 suitably pivoted by a pintle 141 carries a brake shoe l5, slidably mounted in the cylindrical portion 16 and resiliently pressed against the table by the spring 17. A pin 18 sliding in a slot 19 prevents the shoe 15 from sliding out of the cylinder 16.

The brake lever 13 is adapted to move from the position illustrated in Fig. 1 in which it rests against the stop 20 and in which the brake shoe engages the inner surface of the downwardly extending peripheral rim of the table 12 to prevent it from rotating; to a position against the stop pin 21. thereby releasing the table to allow it to rotate.

I have provided means for holding the brake lever 13 in inoperative position only during continued inward motion of the tone arm 11 in the nature of a fluid-operated piston 22 vertically reciprocatory in the cylinder 23 and connected through a link 2% with one end of a rocker member 25 suitably pivoted at 26. A small pin 27 on the brake lever engages the elbow of the rocker member 25 entering the aperture 28. While the brake lever I have illustrated is a bell crank pivoted at the intersection of its arms, and the rocker member I have illustrated is a bell crank pivoted at the end of one of its arms, it will be obvious that any linkage for this purpose may be employed.

A pressure supplying means is provided in the nature of a large piston 29 reciprocating in a cylinder 30, communicating with the cylinder 23 through a tube 31. The piston 29 is actuated by the motion of the tone arm 11 through any suitable mechanical connection such as a rod 32 pivoted to an ear 33 on the rotating tone arm 11 and ac- A. A. CONSTANTINE RAILWAY TRAPDOOR LOCK MECHANISM.

Patented Got. 1?, M922,

i a we] u e H 5 was: e a a" w t 7 53;; n w i ea i1 s in *1 t ALPI-IONSE A. CONSTANTINE, F JELEFIERSONVILLE, INDEANA, ASSIG-NOR TO ATJLERI- CAN CAR AND FOUNDRY COlVl'PANY, OF NEW YORK, N. 35., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

Application filed June 1, 1922.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALPHoNsn A. CON- STANTINE, residing at Jeffersonville, in the county of Clark and State of Indiana, and

being a citizen of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Railway Trapdoor Look Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and to use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact. details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof within the scope of the claims will occur to persons skilled in the art.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a portion of a passenger-train car vestibule platform taken on line l1 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow and showing my improved mecha nism in operative position;

Figure 2 is a. vertical transverse section through said platform taken on line 22 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow and showing another view of my invention;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal central section through the mechanism showing the locking bolt and door releasing and lifting levers assembled with the operating plunger;

Figure at is a horizontal section through the assembled parts of the mechanism taken on line %4 of Fig. 5 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrow;

-Figure 5 is a vertical section through the mechanism taken on line 56 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction indicated by the arrow; and

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 5-6 of Fig. 3 looking in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow.

My invention relates to trap door opening and locking mechanism, and particularly to such mechanism adapted for use in connection with platform trap: doors of passenger-train cars.

The principal object of my invention is to provide means for releasing and par- RAILWAY TRAPYDOOR LOCK lVIECE-IANISIVI.

Serial No. 565,083.

tially raising platform trap doors from their horizontal closed position over the platform steps.

Another object is to provide means for partially raising such doors automatically upon manipulation of associated door lookin elements.

in said drawings, 10 represents the vestibule end wall; 11, the vestibule platform floor upon which. is. mounted the platform door locking mechanism 12 adjacent a free edge of a trap door 18 adapted for opening toward the end wall of the body of the car.

The trap door may be released by an operator on the platform or from below the platform by means of the locking mechanism 12. The mechanism is provided above and below the platform floor with an operating plunger l l having a head portion 15 projecting upwardly from the lock casing 16, and an extended depending portion 17 below the platform floor. The door may be released from the platform by depressing plunger head 15, and from below the plat-- form by a pull on the depending portion if of plunger l-i. To facilitate operation of the locking mechanism from below the platform, operating arm 18 is provided, said arm being anchored to a suitable bracket 19, or the like, on the car framework, and pivotally connected with plunger extension 17 by pin 20, or in any other desired manner.

All of the lock mechanism working parts are housed within the casing 16 and actuated by means of the plunger let extending vertically through one end of said The plunger rod 14; is proportioned for assembling with the casing and contained working parts, the. upper end being of larger dimension for a portion of its length to provide sufiicient bearing area for proper movement of the rod within the casing and to provide lever seats 21 for a purpose hereinafter described. To further increase the area of said lever seats, plane faces 22 are formed in the plunger rod for a short distance below the seats and on opposite sides of said rod.

The casing is tubular in form, having a top wall 23, side walls 24, and bottom wall 25. Qne end of said casing may be closed, as by wall 26, but the opposite end 2'? is open to receive the various elements of the lock mechanism and is positioned adjacent and carrying a stud 32 for supporting said spring. The bracket is spaced "from the side walls 24 of the casing as shown in Fig. 4 to provide guideways for the side walls of the sliding locking bolt 34.

The sliding bolt 34 is hollow and of channel shape in cross-section as shown in Figs. and 6, and closed at one end by the door locking nose portion 35 protruding slightly beyond the edge of the casing 16 and lying in the path of the free edge of the trap door 13. The bolt is further provided with a top wall portion'36, side walls 37, and an intermediate bolt stop wall 38 depending from the top wall 36 and connecting the side walls 37. The rear face of the nose portion 35 provides an abutment for one end of spring 31 and carries a spring supporting stud 39 in alinement with stud '32 on the casing 16. The bolt rides upon ledges 40 on the casing 16, its movement in one direction being initiated upon. impact of the trap door against the beveled nose portion 35 or by depressing plungerrod 14, and in the opposite direction by the expansive action of spring 31 mounted upon studs 32 and 39 within the casing.

Pivotally'mounted within casing 16 and below sliding 'bolt 34 are bell cra'nk levers 41 and 42 having portions for engagement with said bolt. Lever 41 is pivotally held for engagement with trap door 13 by means of pin 43 seated in the side walls 24 of the casing 16, and is arranged with one arm 44 in position to engage depending portions 35 and 38 of bolt 34 and another arm 45 projecting outwardly in position to engage the the under side of the trap door. As shown in Fig.3 of the drawings, arm 45 rests upon ledge 46 of the casing and the upwardly extending arm 44 engages the stop wall 38 of the bolt 34 but is spaced from nose portion 35.

Lever 42 is, in like manner, pivotally sup ported in the casing adjacent plunger rod 14 by pin 47', and in the present embodiment of the invention is formed with arms 48 and 49, bifurcated respectively to receive spring 31 and to lie astride the plunger rod 14. Arm 48 is adapted to engage shoulders on the side walls 37 of the bolt while arm 49 overlaps the plane faces 22 of the plunger rod in position to engage the seats 21 on said rod.

As shown in Fig. 3, arm 44 of the door opening lever 41 bears against stop wall 38 and serves to check abnormal outward move ment of the bolt 34 under the expansive action of spring 31. The tendency of the bolt 34 to move outwardly under the action of spring 31 will cause shoulders 50 on the side walls 37 of said bolt to bear against arm 48 and enable arm 49 to carry plunger rod 14. Spring 31 is of sufficient capacity to carry the weight of the plunger rod and operating parts and capable of yielding to an operating pressure on the plunger rod to permit the moving parts to assume the broken line positions indicated in this figure. The length of arms 48 and 49 of lever '42 may be proportioned to suit the desired velocity and range of movement of plunger rod 14, and bolt 34, depending on the degree of resistance of spring 31'to such movement.

In operation, assuming the parts to be in the full line positions shown in Fig. 3,-a downward move'ment of plunger rod 14 will cause a corresponding movement of arm 49 of the bell crank lever 42 and rotate said lever about pivot 47, carrying arm 48 against shoulders 50 of the reciproca-tory bolt and urge said bolt away from trap door 13 until the beveled nose portion 35 of "the bolt recedes from its position above the free edge of the trap door and is drawn into its retracted positionwithin the housing 16 as indicated in broken lines in 3. During the progress of the bolt 34 to full retracted position the rear face of the nose piece 35 will strike arm 44 of bell crank lever 41 causing said lever to rotate upon its pivot 43 and carry the door opening arm upwardly against the underside of trap door 13 to partially open same.

Upon release of plunger rod 14- the force of the expanding spring 31 will propel the bolt 34 toward trap door 13 until the bolt stop wall 38 engages upstanding arm 44 of i the door opening lever 41 and further outward movement thereof is checked, bringthe parts in position to be again retracted as described.

To insure stability of the mechanism du'ring all stages of operation and to firmly secure same to the floor of the car platform, casing 16 is provided with integral flanges projecting outwardly from side walls '24 thereof and perforated to receive suitable fastening devices 52.

1F rom the foregoing it will be noted that the bell crank levers 41 and. 42, and spring 31 spanning the space between them, are partially housed within the hollow, channel shape bolt 34. With arms 48 and 4-9 bifur- 'cated to respectively receive spring '31 and plunger rod 14, the moving parts are brought into closer operating relation.

What I claim is: l

1. In a platform trap door locking mechanism including a casing secured adjacent the free edge of the trap door, an operating plunger rod at one end of said casing, a hollow bolt slidable within said casing having one end thereof in position above the trap door when closed, and a bell-crank lever connecting said bolt and operating plunger and a spring Within said bolt and easing adapted to oppose retractile movement of said bolt upon actuation of the plunger rod.

2. In a platform trap door locking mechanism including a casing secured adjacent the free edge ofthe trap door, a hollow bolt slidable within said casing and having a closed end carrying a sprlng abutment, a spring within said bolt bearing at one end against said abutment and at its opposite end against the casing, an operating plunger rod at one end of said casing, and a bellcrank lever connecting said bolt and operat ing rod and adapted to retract said bolt to compress said spring upon actuation of the plunger rod.

3. In a trap door locking mechanism comprising a casing having top and bottom walls perforated to receive a plunger rod, a plunger rod moving in said casing, a bracket depending from the top wall of the casing providing an abutment and support for a spring, a hollow bolt slidable in said casing having an end wall providing an abutment and support for a spring, a spring seated against said abutments and spanning the space between them, said bolt being movable to compress said spring upon actuation of the plunger rod.

4. In a platfrom trap door locking mecha nism including a casing secured adjacent the free edge of the trap door and provided with top, bottom, and side walls, bolts supporting ledges on the side walls, a hollow bolt slidably mounted on said ledges and adapted to receive a spring, spring abutments on said bolt and easing, an operating plunger rod moving in said casing, and a plurality of bell-crank levers supported in the side walls of the casing below said bolt adapted respectively to move the trap door and bolt upon actuation of the operating plunger rod. d

5. In a platform trap door locking mechanism including a casing secured adjacent the free edge of the trap door, an operating lunger rod at one end of said casing, a hollow bolt slidable within said casing having an end wall in position above the trap door when closed, spring abutments on said end wall and casing, a spring within the bolt seated against said abutments, and a plurality of bell-crank levers bifurcated to receive said spring and respectively adapted to move the trap door and bolt upon actuation of the operating plunger rod.

6. In a platform trap door locking mechanism including a casing secured adjacent the free edge of the trap door, an operating plunger rod at one end of said casing, a hollow bolt slidable within said casing, lever engaging portions on said rod and bolt, a bell-crank lever having its arms respectively engaging said bolt and rod portions, a second bell-crank lever engaging said trap door and bolt, spring abutments on said bolt and casing, a spring having its ends seated against said abutinents, said first mentioned bell-crank lever having its arms bifurcated to receive said spring and Plunger rod.

'7. In a platform trap door locking mechanism including a casing secured adjacent the free edge of the trap door, an operating plunger rod at one end of said casing, a hollow bolt slidable within said casing and adapted to receive a spring, spring abutments on said bolt and casing, a spring Within said bolt seated against said abutments, and a plurality of bell-crank levers pivotally supported in the casing below said bolt adapted respectively to move the trap door and bolt upon actuation of the operating plunger rod.

8. In a platform trap. door locking mecha- I nism including a casing secured adjacent the free edge of the trap door, a hollow bolt slidable within said casing having one end thereof in position above the trap door when closed, an operating plunger rod at one end of said casing, and a bell-crank lever connecting said bolt and operating plunger, and a spring within said bolt and casing adapted to oppose retractile movement of said boltupon actuation of the plunger rod, said bellcrank lever having one of its arms in position to support said plunger rod.

9. In a platform trap door locking mechanism including a casing secured adjacent the free edge of the trap door, a hollow bolt slidable within said casing having one end thereof in position above the trap door when closed, an operating plunger rod at one end of said casing provided with lever engaging seats, a spring within said bolt and casing adapted to oppose retractile movement of said bolt upon actuation of the plunger rod, and a bell-crank lever connecting said bolt and plunger rod and arranged with one of its arms in position to engage the lever seats on the plunger rod for supporting said rod.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

ALPHONSE A. CONSTANTINE.

Witnesses ALLEN W. CLARKE, C. B. BEESON. 

